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This 'Mitty' doesn't make the cut

Gannett Chief Film Critic;
Published 2:53 p.m. ET Dec. 24, 2013

This film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Ben Stiller in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Wilson Webb)(Photo: Wilson Webb, AP)

It's a beautiful-looking film, with a lot of talent in front of the camera, including Ben Stiller (who directs as well as stars), Kristen Wiig and, in a small role, Sean Penn. It's based on a great short story by James Thurber and was made into a well-liked film in 1947 starring Danny Kaye.

But this film never adds up.

The original story was about a put-upon husband who escaped his shrewish wife by way of rich fantasies. Stiller's Mitty also has fantasies. They're big, expensive-looking set pieces in which, for instance, he saves a dog from a building that's about to blow up. (Evidently once a movie budget soars past a certain figure an explosion of some kind is required.)

But this Mitty leaves fantasy behind, and although that is not necessarily a problem, it's not Mitty. The original character uses his imagination to escape his wretched life. For Stiller's Mitty, the fantasies are an impetus to experience real adventure. A noble goal, perhaps, and a decent idea, even if it doesn't fit the spirit of the story.

The bigger problem is how Mitty's fantasies are treated not as a means of escape, but as a form of mental illness, almost. Late in the film, after he has traveled around the globe, someone asks Mitty if he's still having those daydreams.

Not as often, he says with some satisfaction, and it's kind of sad.

In this film Mitty isn't married or dating. He'd like to be, specifically with Cheryl (Wiig), his co-worker at Life magazine. He signs up with eHarmony.com, the find-a-date website, where Todd (played mostly off-camera by Patton Oswalt), one of the people who answers the phones, takes a liking to him.

But he's got to get out into the world more, Todd advises. Have some adventures.

Then superstar photographer Sean O'Connell (Penn) sends in a series of photos, one of which — negative No. 25 — is earmarked for the final cover. But Mitty loses it. O'Connell is a lone-wolf sort who doesn't have a cellphone and doesn't really tell anyone where he is.

So off goes Walter, encouraged by Todd and Cheryl, whom he finally gathers the courage to engage with, to find O'Connell and his photo.

He travels to Greenland, Iceland and the Himalayas to find the photographer (and the photo). But really, of course, he is finding himself.

And that's rather ho-hum, despite the admittedly spectacular settings and the acting, which is fine. The film also has a few of Stiller's typical quirky touches. He's a good director — "Tropic Thunder" is a subversive classic — aiming for something big here.

But we've seen plenty of movies where protagonists make a leap of faith to better themselves; in fact, we haven't seen too many movies where they don't.

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," at least in its original form, is about living your life inside your head, after circumstances (or weaknesses) trap you there. It's a secret life, after all. In this version, it's all about breaking out, getting free, taking chances. There's nothing wrong with that. But there's nothing novel about it, either.